Continued enrollment growth will spark $20.5 million in new construction for the Tri-State University campus over the next year, TSU President Dr. Earl Brooks II announced this week.

Principal among the additions will be four student apartment buildings overlooking the university’s Zollner Golf Course, which will add 400 beds for the influx of students, said TSU Vice President for Student and University Operations, Michael Bock.

Apartments for the first 100 students will be open August 1, 2008, in time for students to occupy them in the fall semester. Apartments to house the next 300 students will open in January, 2009. Stewart Hall, the last dormitory on campus, will then be razed to make way for a new tennis pavilion.

Previously approved projects valued at $5.5 million, to be completed by August 2008, include a new football stadium with artificial turf, locker rooms, restrooms, press boxes, and concessions, which will occupy the site of present-day Shive Field to accommodate the sports of football, lacrosse, and soccer. Within the stadium overlooking the field will be four motel rooms for the use of campus visitors. On game day, the spaces will convert to hospitality rooms with a view of the action on the field. The stadium area will also contain a new practice football field.

A new field house with 200-meter indoor track will connect with Hershey Hall, which houses the university’s Ketner Sports Center. TSU’s Thunder Sports Park will also receive a facelift, with new parking areas, curbs and sidewalks, restrooms, and concessions.

The expansion and renovation of the campus continues as part of the university’s Vision for the Future capital campaign, which funds a master plan to invest $90 million into campus improvements by June, 2009.

President Brooks praised the foresight of the TSU board in the expansion decision. “With the support and vision of our Board of Trustees, we will continue to make institutional and campus improvements to distinguish TSU as one of the premier private universities in the nation,” he said.